BYOODE-FUL

I'm blessed to be a grandma of four, three boys (my son's) and one girl (my daughter's). The grandboys are in town, so often visit. But the granddaughter, Eleanor, lives four hours' drive away and I don't see her often. Yet she touches my Nana's heart with her drawings and first-grade-prose. Yes, I like hydrangeas, too, Eleanor. I agree: they are a "byoode." I carried a freshly picked hydrangea pompom as a simple, homemade bridal bouquet at my wedding.

Because my husband died just weeks short of our 42^nd anniversary, the wedding memories are especially tender. We were older—34 and 36—and never-married-before when our wedding day came. It was a simple, small ceremony, right down to a home-sewn dress, garden-picked flowers and a potluck reception. A year or so ago, Eleanor's mom posed her holding a “bouquet” of hydrangeas, and I have that photo posted by my kitchen sink. Her recent drawing (with its original spelling—how precious) lifted my heart as I realized this little detail was revived to comfort me. The same for the hydrangea bouquet they left on my table before returning to their home on the other side of the state.

Often when I look at this drawing, now prominently posted in the kitchen, I recall a contemporary Christian song that has come to widespread recognition through singer Twila Paris. She defines “how beautiful” through remembering the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ, and how that has translated through the centuries through those who now call themselves “Christian”--followers of Jesus.

The song's rhymes are simple, but profound. Sacrifice. He paid the price. The singer reminds us of Jesus' tender eyes, hands that healed, and a heart that bled. My prose doesn't do justice to the song. It's best just listened to, maybe sung along in the heart in a quiet and tender time.

Will there be “byoode-ful” hydrangeas in God's Perfect Place, Heaven? Why not? Or why not something even more amazing in the eternal place God is preparing for those who followed Jesus?

Here are two videos (of many on the internet). In the “YouTube” one, the background is a sunset on the sea. In the other (“Bing”), images of an actor playing the role of Christ, serving, and dying on the cross. Keep a tissue handy and consider watching both.

Howbeautiful by Twila Paris (Lyrics) – YouTube

Howbeautiful by Twila Paris (with lyrics) - Bing video

BLUE...

Hydrangeas—especially the blue-hued blooms--are my favorite flower. But I am not their favorite gardener. The profuse bushes of decades earlier in this home have withered and died. Even healthy-looking transplants from greenhouses failed to thrive. Learning that insufficient soil acid might be the problem, I stirred concoctions into the dirt—to no avail. I was left with sticks and distant memories of the blue and purple pompom flowers that once ballooned on the shady side of our home. Disappointed, we planted some strawberries there, and I put a bouquet of fake hydrangea in the guest bedroom.

My horticultural ignorance brought to mind the advice I heard as a young adult, seeking to grow in my faith. I read my Bible, kept a journal, and had a prayer list. I later sat under some great expository preachers (two are still living in their late 80s--and still preaching!). But I wish I'd had more practical spiritual encouragement, like I found in a recent book by a longtime writer-speaker friend.

It's Lucinda Secrest McDowell's Soul Strong: 7 Keys to a Vibrant Life (New Hope Publishers). I met her long ago (okay, forty-plus years) at Wheaton Graduate School when we were both emerging into our early careers. Now she's a well-known speaker and author of many Christian non-fiction books which authentically and winsomely help scriptural truth bloom through practical examples. This book discusses seven character qualities of a vibrant faith journey: Live loved, be authentic, dwell deep, pray always, overcome pain, extend kindness, and share stories.

I hesitate to highlight even one of those qualities to the exclusion of others, but the one about overcoming pain spoke deeply to me. (Yes, me--who allowed beloved hydrangea plants to suffer!) Lucinda and I have learned, in our own ways, that pain is the unwelcome but necessary agent of growing deeper in faith. She admitted once telling a friend, “I don't really trust someone without a limp” (p. 105). By that she meant:….those who have been broken or wounded live differently from those for whom life is a constant picnic. We don't offer pat answers. We listen for what is going on behind the spoken words. We move forward each day even if our healing process is not yet complete. Our limp serves as a metaphor to show that we are real, imperfect people who have learned hard things by following God through suffering.

Lucinda took her book title from Psalm 138:3 (ESV): “On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.” Written with blank spaces for personal or group contemplation, it's a fresh look at growing in Christ and serving Him. Or, to borrow the title from a devotional book by Eugene Peterson (of The Message paraphrase fame): “a long obedience in the same direction.”

By the way, Lucinda also enjoys hydrangeas. She has a plant at her home in New England, and wrote about it here: Maybe It’s Time to Sit in the Shade – Lucinda Secrest McDowell

LOVE BLOOMED

 

Forty years ago this month, my husband Rich and I exchanged marriage vows in the little country church where his dad was part-time pastor. Our officiant was a pastor whose family was special to me in early adulthood, and who witnessed our love bloom, then fade when Rich didn't feel ready to support a wife. Almost a decade passed--hard years for me as my parents died while I was pursuing my career and education, ending up halfway across the nation. Then, long story short, our relationship rebloomed and I accepted his proposal. We were 34 and 36, both never married before. 

With my parents deceased and limited funds, I had no desire for a big wedding. Everything was pared down. Free use of the small church. A potluck lunch in lieu of wedding gifts. (As longtime singles, we'd already gathered enough housekeeping essentials.) A homemade wedding dress. A borrowed veil. And a bouquet from someone's garden: one white rose inside a puff of hydrangea. 

We all have our favorite flowers, and my affection for hydrangea goes back to my childhood when that plant grew outside my bedroom window. I've learned that hydrangea are famed for looking like a colony of butterflies. They're not “flowers,” in the sense of single blooms on a stem. They're considered an “inflorescence,” a group of flowers on a stem. The name comes from Greek and means “water vessel.” The Japanese call them “Ajisai,” meaning “water drinker.” And yes, they require a lot of water.

I've also learned that flowers are symbolic of emotions and hydrangeas are “gratitude” or “heartfelt emotions.” That fit my wedding day! White hydrangea symbolize the purity of innocent “first love.” Those would have been okay, too, but I favor the purplish/blue ones. Giving someone pink hydrangeas conveys appreciation for the recipient. Blue is linked to refusing a romantic offer, requesting forgiveness, and expressing regret. Oh my, if I'd known that, maybe I would have had second thoughts of carrying them for my wedding!

And here's another negative: all hydrangea contain cyanide and are toxic to people.

Thankfully, weddings aren't all about the flowers you carry! For us, getting back together was a statement about the grace of God. We chose as our wedding verse (and had someone with calligraphy skills prepare it to hang in our home) Psalm 34:3: “Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.”

I spent many years as a newspaper reporter, specializing in women's news and features. That included doing the “write-ups” of hundreds of weddings. Some were quite extravagant and in those “olden days” on a small-town daily, every detail possible was included, even descriptions of the bride's gown and bouquet. But such things are for a day. This broken world will someday end, but God is eternal. There will come a relationship and location that defies imagination, but it perfect and pleasing in every way. The transition is even symbolized as a wedding. In his vision of heaven, the aged apostle John wrote: “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband" (Revelation 21:2).

Weddings in our time have become big business, with many couples and their families spending thousands on attire, flowers, bands, catering, and more. Others have become flippant, with elopements at tiny chapels with Elvis impersonators officiating. For us, not being flashy folks, ours was just right. We had the presence of people we cared about. And, like the symbolism of the flowers I carried, we had “gratitude” and “heartfelt emotions.”